over the past 20 years the labour markets of most industrialised countries have undergone a series of profound changes. These changes have been associated with significant changes in work processes, employment conditions, union density and industrial relations. This paper provides an overview of the labour market restructuring occurring in most industrialised societies. In addition to the growth in temporary, part-time work and self-employment, changes in the extent of agency labour, homework, telework, outsourcing, franchising and the timing of work are also considered. A series of complex interconnections are identified. It is argued that in many cases, the socio-economic consequences of these changes have been compounded by alterations to policies and laws dealing with industrial relations, labour markets, competitive tendering, privatisation and social security.

About one in every four Australian employees is a casual. The casual share has doubled over the past decade and continues to expand. This paper catalogues the growth of casual employment and discusses the characteristics of casual jobs and of those in casual jobs. The key analytical issue discussed is whether casual employment is a transitional employment arrangement on the road towards permanent employment conditions. Alternatively, is it a trap which is associated with job insecurity, low earnings and spells outside of employment? Although the evidence is partial and circumstantial, casual employment is a bridge for some and a trap for others. In particular, for those who wish to beak out of unemployment, casual employment is unlikely to be a transitional point on the road to a permanent job. This finding has important implications for the design of labour market programs.

The decreasing prevalence of the standard model of employment embodied by the ‘typical male full-time employee on a permanent contract’ can be seen both as risking the erosion of hard won labour rights and as offering the potential for a more flexible, less ‘male’ model. This paper addresses some of the ways in which this tension is played out, drawing on data from the 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations (AWIRS95) Employee Survey to examine the implications for women workers of recent trends in contingent employment in Australia. Our analysis suggests that the growth in contingent employment in Australia has had little positive impact on women’s experience of work. We conclude that if the disadvantage faced by women in irregular employment is to be countered, greater regulation of such employment is required. However, key features of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 make the regulation of the conditions of contingent employment even more difficult to achieve than in the past. The result of current policy settings is likely to be the further institutionalisation of women’s disadvantage at work and in the labour market.

This article uses data from the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Surveys conducted in 1989/90 and 1995 to examine the related questions of: (i) what are the characteristics of workers who accept casual employment; and (ii) what types of workplaces and firms are most likely to employ workers on a casual basis. The evidence presented suggests that while supply-side characteristics are not unimportant, demand-side factors appear to provide more likely explanations for changes in the overall level of casual employment.

Increasing female participation rates in undergraduate economics programs are not reflected in increasing female representation in the ranks of academic economists. Approximately 42 per cent of undergraduate students are women but the percentage of women participating declines in postgraduate programs and in academic positions in economics departments, where approximately 26 per cent of academics are women. Female representation in the academic labour market has an importance beyond its numbers. A lack of female role models and mentors among academics is one factor that may affect students’ motivation and career aspirations. We use the results of a national survey of Australian economics students to assess the relative importance of a number of factors in the career choices for postgraduate and undergraduate students in economics. We assess the factors that make academia an unattractive career choice for females.

To understand individuals’ union membership choices it is necessary to examine decisions both to join and to leave (exit) unions, observed when employees are in jobs where unions are available and there is freedom of choice on union membership (‘open’ jobs). Using multivariate analysis of survey data, it was found that sympathy towards unions was the most powerful influence upon union joining, but had little impact on union exit, which was more a function of the perceived instrumentality of membership. Employee perceptions on union in-fighting and cooperation with management influenced union membership, as did the outcome of involvement in industrial disputes. Satisfaction with union delegates was a key influence on attitudes and membership. Employee trust of management only influenced exit behaviour through its interaction with satisfaction with union delegates. Job satisfaction had a complex relationship with union membership that is disguised in aggregated studies.